So what is your favert one and what is your dream yard fiber to work with you know the one you just can't afford or fined?:knitting:

globaltraveler

03-17-2009, 06:29 AM

Cashmere, silk, and merino mixes. Although I just filled up my LYS loyalty card which means a 15% discount on the next purchase, and am seriously considering buying some Handmaiden hand-dyed silk that I've had my eye on but haven't been able to justify the cost for.

Plantgoddess+

03-17-2009, 06:52 AM

My favorite that I've actually been able to work with is camel hair. It is sooo soft. I love the sweater I made with it and wear it skiing when it's very cold. It's dk weight but traps heat wonderfully.

sorifes

03-17-2009, 05:45 PM

My dream fiber is Qivuit but it could be because I live in alaska. It's always so soft when I touch it at the native craft fairs and I go ooh it's so nice and I hear it's soo warm. But ooh it's like 80 bucks for 2 oz of lace weight yarn.

Although fibers I've use that I like is the Merino wool. I have some Cashmere but I don't know what to do with it...I'm pondering socks when I get the guts to make them.

OffJumpsJack

03-18-2009, 03:15 PM

I've just re-started crocheting and knitting about a year ago and I just have acrylic yarns and some cotton crochet thread. :oo:

So, does that make me a peasant? :)

Of course, what else is there if you don't like wool? Cotton, silk, and blends?

melmac51

03-18-2009, 04:13 PM

I've just re-started crocheting and knitting about a year ago and I just have acrylic yarns and some cotton crochet thread. :oo:

So, does that make me a peasant? :)

Of course, what else is there if you don't like wool? Cotton, silk, and blends?

Well, Jack, if you're a peasant, then I'm a peasant too. I splurged $15 whole dollars on a hunk of yarn, and I don't know what to do with it. It intimidates me. :??

As long as it's soft, pretty, and easy to work with; it's good enough for me.

globaltraveler

03-19-2009, 08:15 AM

I don't see why anyone should feel apologetic or less something-or-other for liking a less expensive or even a cheap yarn or fiber. You're certainly going to save money over a fiber snob like me. I wouldn't be unhappy if I liked a 100% acrylic big-box-store yarn -- I'd feel pretty smug, in fact, as I could buy a lot more yarn for less! :)

Besides, I'll buy an acrylic yarn when I like it, and have.

Plantgoddess+

03-19-2009, 08:54 AM

Most every yarn is good for some use or other. I was lucky to get the camel hair and hoarded it for over 20 years before deciding that I had found a use for it that was worthy. I generally use lesser expensive yarns. That may be why I love making socks, the financial commitment is minimal and I certainly get a lot of use out of them. I find Knit Pick's and Elann's more my speed. I like getting a pair of socks for $4-$6 a pair.

Kattra

03-20-2009, 12:24 AM

OMG you are not going to beleave this! I bot some cotten twine to knit a door mat. And it is nicer to knit with than Red Heart Super Saver.... Now where nere as harsh!

Anarfea

03-21-2009, 03:08 PM

Of course, what else is there if you don't like wool? Cotton, silk, and blends?

I've seen/heard of yarns spun from alpaca, bamboo, posum fur, musk ox and camel hair as people here are mentioning, bunny fur (angora) hemp, milk, wood pulp, rayon, sea kelp, linnen, and coffee filters to name a few other options.

I personally like alpacca best for the softness, although I've never bought any really pricy luxury fibers like cashmere or qivuit.

Acrylic can vary a lot in quality. I'm knitting my first sweater in acryclic yarn because it was a gift and I figure my first sweater will have tons of mistakes so why spend a fortune on it--but the yarn actually squeaks sometimes it's soo plasticy. But I have seen some acryclic which is soft--I think it's better in wool/acrylic or alpaca/acrylic blends, which I have knit with.

But dang, if I'm not curious about that possum fur.

Crycket

03-21-2009, 05:05 PM

I just bought some Possum...it is very soft....very soft...and very warm...I think the only thing that prevents me from saying it is my favorite....is that it sheds....but so far, only when I am knitting with it...not the finished product...

As far as what is my favorite? I don't know...it depends on the project...superwash wool, or bamboo for socks....the possum is nice for gloves....silk blends for shawls....

I love playing with fibre and seeing where it works best.....even acrylic has its place....

cresmoon

03-23-2009, 11:43 PM

Reading through this thread has made me realize how horribly sheltered I have been when it comes to yarn. Possum?!!!
:roflhard:

I haven't been doing this long enough to have a favorite, but I was at Michael's today and even though I swore I'd only buy one skein of Caron's Simply Soft because it was on sale, I saw this gorgeous color yarn and couldn't resist and bought the last two skeins - the Red Heart soft yarn in the color Embers. I have no idea what I'll knit with it but I couldn't resist it, such a beautiful color.

OffJumpsJack

03-24-2009, 09:33 AM

I remember Possum (http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenpa.nsf/FID/-7CCCC303BB3CCE99CA256D9000079F6A?OpenDocument) being discussed before. The Possum is from Australia. (http://www.aussiepossummen.com.au/)
http://www.sanchona.com/possum.jpg
A brushtail Possum.

It is not the same animal as the Opossum of North America. And the Opossum that is in North America are native to eastern USA but imported to western USA...
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3119/opossum2.jpg
A Virginia Opossum

Note the hairless tail!

("Originally native to the eastern United States, the Virginia Opossum was intentionally introduced into the West during the Great Depression, probably as a source of food." [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum#cite_note-1))

I've read on another thread here of the woman who saved her own hair (cast offs and cuttings) and spun it into yarn and made herself a sweater. :eyebrow2:

There is also reports of spinning pet fur into yarn. My Rottweiler certainly sheds enough I could do that, I wouldn't but I could. (Bit of a difference, I think.) ;)

globaltraveler

03-24-2009, 08:34 PM

An acquaintance of my family's raises wolves, and tried making yarn out of the spring shedding. They had to stop wearing the sweaters she made, though, as dogs would react VERY strangely to them when they wore them!

jess_hawk

03-25-2009, 06:41 PM

My dream fiber is Qivuit but it could be because I live in alaska. It's always so soft when I touch it at the native craft fairs and I go ooh it's so nice and I hear it's soo warm. But ooh it's like 80 bucks for 2 oz of lace weight yarn.

Although fibers I've use that I like is the Merino wool. I have some Cashmere but I don't know what to do with it...I'm pondering socks when I get the guts to make them.
Qiviuk (I've seen it spelled various ways)... I don't know if it was worth the $80 I paid for it but it is definitely dreamy soft. The yarn was so fine that it broke easily, though. It is a mark of my fiber-snobbery that I saved for an entire summer (the summer I spent in Alaska) so that I could buy a ball when I was in Ketchikan to fly home.
Fortunately, a lot of things in Alaska are edible, so skimping on my grocery bill was possible without even going hungry. (Yummm, beach asparagus!)
An acquaintance of my family's raises wolves, and tried making yarn out of the spring shedding. They had to stop wearing the sweaters she made, though, as dogs would react VERY strangely to them when they wore them!
OMG wolf fiber would be so cool!!! *adds another exotic critter to the dream fiber list.* I love exotic, rare fibers.
My favorite that I use semi-regularly is baby alpaca/silk. I love working with merino and with shetland (though not for the same project!). Shetland is hard to come by, though.

I am SUCH a fiber snob...

Sknitter56

03-25-2009, 07:30 PM

OMG! Possum!?! We have those creatures around here and they give me the creeps! You've heard the term "playin' possum?" They actually do that! They roll over and act like they're dead...so whatever is chasing/bothering them will go away. Ugh!! I also have to contend with gators just taking my dogs for a walk. We have lots of canals all around where I live and a nature trail that runs through them and those gators just lay around on the banks and sun all day...creepy x2.

OffJumpsJack

03-26-2009, 12:56 PM

OMG! Possum!?! We have those creatures around here and they give me the creeps!

If your note of GA means Georgia, USA, then you definitely do NOT have Possum around there. You have Opossum and it is not just a spelling difference. Check out the links in the next quote.

I remember Possum (http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/dse/nrenpa.nsf/FID/-7CCCC303BB3CCE99CA256D9000079F6A?OpenDocument) being discussed before. The Possum is from Australia. (http://www.aussiepossummen.com.au/)
http://www.sanchona.com/possum.jpg
An Australian brushtail Possum

It is not the same animal as the Opossum of North America. And the Opossum that is in North America are native to eastern USA but imported to western USA...
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/3119/opossum2.jpg
A North American or Virginia Opossum
Note the hairless tail.

So, similar names but different animals. They both are marsupials, but that is nearly all they have in common.

Firey Vixxen

03-28-2009, 10:58 PM

I like the possum merino blend I'm swatching up with (Touch yarns-http://www.touchyarns.com/). I haven't noticed any shedding even when I frogged. BTW, alot of the possum yarns come from New Zealand, not Australia. The brushie was introduced there for the fur trade, then the fur trade died and the brushie firmly set up camp. It is now a pest there. The idea is to make a financially sound reason for trapping and removing the pest species.
http://www.merinopossum.co.nz/loose_wool.htm
I personally LOVE alpaca. It's Warm and Soft and Warm and Warm... and alpacas are pretty cool as animals as well. I have noticed some balls are a little hairy though.
for Luxury fibers... Vicuna anyone... no idea how to get some, no idea how much it'll cost (other than alot) but I want to try it. And that wolf sounds interesting. I like the idea of knitting with nontraditional or pretraditional fibers.
What about fibers people think "nice, not me," or "overrated". For me this is cashmere. I've fondled some Cashmere balls, and honestly, Alpaca is softer and cheaper. I'll try it before I firmly blow it off, but currently I'm "Meh".
:X: FV

globaltraveler

03-30-2009, 04:02 AM

I've fondled some Cashmere balls, and honestly, Alpaca is softer and cheaper. I'll try it before I firmly blow it off, but currently I'm "Meh".

What kind of cashmere were you fondling? I have some Nord du Laine 100% cashmere that's nice, but it isn't a patch on some wonderful Chinese cashmere that Loop (in London) carries. Of course, the latter costs about 32 quid a skein. So the Nord Du Laine I bought on sale at 3.50 a ball works fine for me at the moment... :)

ETA: By the way, many cashmere yarns must be washed, sometimes more than once, before they develop their full softness.